Freedom to be unvaccinated not so free – it comes with ‘enormous’ cost

While the human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic has been staggering, and its emotional toll on health care workers unimaginable, the economic cost to the health care system has been enormous, as well. Yet, a significant portion of the billions of dollars spent on hospital care could have been avoided.

According to the Health System Tracker, a publication of the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation, “there were a total of 690,000 vaccine-preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations form June through November 2021” with each of those cases costing an average of $20,000. That equals 13 billion, 800 million unnecessarily spent dollars that will come from taxpayers or insurance rate payers.

In the end, those claiming the freedom to be unvaccinated are doing so at an enormous cost to others. It gives “freedom isn’t free” an entirely new meaning.

Chuck Ardo, Lancaster